Wellington Pride squad named to clash with Tasman

Jackie Patea-Fereti will captain a strong Wellington Pride line-up set to clash with Tasman on Saturday afternoon.

Coming off the back of a 27 – nil pre-season win against Manawatu last week; head coach Ross Bond is feeling confident about the season ahead.

“Preseason hit out was good in terms of sorting combinations and giving us a starting point for campaign.”

Bond has previously told media; this year’s selection process has been the most difficult he’s encountered throughout his 20 years of coaching.

Patea-Fereti, Monica Tagoai, Marcelle Parkes and Dhys Faleafaga have all been named in the game-day 22 and have recently spent time in the Blackferns environment.

But Bond says he’s most interested in seeing how the entire team gels together over the season.

“Tasman are an energetic side who will bring plenty to the fixture. I’m looking forward to the individual units working well to piece together a cohesive and polished performance.”

Wellington Pride last came up against Tasman in September 2018 and they won 88 – 3.

Kick-off at Blenheim’s Landsdowne Park is at 1pm, but due to social distancing restrictions under alert level 2 there will be no access to spectators.

The Wellington Pride team to play Tasman on Saturday is:

1 Angelica Uila

2 Precious Auimatagi

3 Janet Taumoli

4 Joanah Ngan-Woo

5 Jackie Patea-Fereti

6 Nina Foaese

7 Sinead Toala-Ryder

8 Dhys Faleafaga

9 Acacia Claridge-Te Iwimate

10 Montana Heslop

11 Georgia Daals

12 Fa’asua Makisi

13 Monica Tagoai

14 Kolora Lomani

15 Thamsyn Newton

RESERVES:

16 Alice Soper

17 Isadora Laupola

18 Charlene Gubb

19 Emily Dalley

20 Rejieli Uluinayau

21 Tyler Bentley

22 Marcelle Parkes